Your Questions!
Why give to Tearfund and not directly to partners?
At Tearfund, we do our international development and relief work almost exclusively through local partners.
These partner organizations work through local churches to bring about real, holistic change to thousands of people who once lived in extreme poverty.
So, why can’t you just give directly to their work? Why go through Tearfund Canada?
One of the reasons is the way Tearfund international program staff collaborate closely with our local partners, providing expertise in program development to our partners and therefore, together, we have more robust programs. This means that partners benefit from knowledge sharing, and that best practices for international development are shared all across the world. Additionally, giving through Tearfund Canada, rather directly, also allows your donations to be leveraged through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and other organizations. Doing so multiplies your gift, resulting in more funds for programming and greater impact. You can read more about our relationship with the CFGB here.
Being located in a financially wealthier country like Canada, we are also able to act as an advocate on behalf of multiple organizations, promoting the great work they do and gathering more support than each partner would be able gain individually. This also allows us to tap into economies of scale, allowing us to raise more money efficiently. We can share and tell their stories, and reach thousands of people with amazing stories of transformation. We can share with you, our donors, about the impact you are having around the world.
By working with partners around the world, we also have the ability to see the big picture and the benefit of comparing and contrasting what is working and what is not. We take a high view of the situation in multiple countries across different contexts, in contrast to local partners who dig deeper and focus specifically in one specific area.
Finally, under Canadian charitable law, the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) requires that transfers to international agencies be made through an agency agreement. These agreements are detailed, extensive and require significant reporting commitments between both agencies. The CRA makes it difficult for an individual or church to transfer money overseas without an agency and impossible if you want to get a charitable giving receipt.
Did you know that every month we pray directly for our partners and their work? Sign up at tearfund.ca/pray to start getting prayer requests directly from our local partners and churches.
